Junior Tour Alum Noah Kent Shines at the 124th U.S. Amateur
CHASKA, Minn. - South Florida PGA Junior Tour Alum Noah Kent’s remarkable run at the 124th U.S. Amateur came up just short, falling to Jose Luis Ballester on the 36th hole at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
A rising Sophomore at the University of Iowa, Kent's remarkable performance this week is a testament to both his current skill and the strong foundation he built during his time on the South Florida PGA Junior Tour. Son of South Florida PGA Member David Kent, PGA General Manager at The Club at Crown Colony, Kent grew up in Naples and began his journey with the SFPGA in 2015 as part of the South Florida PGA Team Golf program.
As a member on the SFPGA Junior Tour, Kent won the prestigious Patty Berg Championship in 2020 and was the individual champion at the 2021 SFPGA High School Championship before going on to compete for the Hawkeyes.
To begin the week at Hazeltine, Kent opened the stroke play portion of the event with a 77, before he bounced back with a 64 to finish in a tie for 32nd, advancing to the round of 64 to compete in match play.
Noah went on to defeat Xihuan Chang 4 and 2 to advance to the round of 32, where he beat Tom Fischer 2 and 1. Noah then beat Garrett Engle 4 and 2 before facing Ethan Fang in the quarterfinals, winning 3 and 2. Yesterday, Kent capped his storybook run with a birdie on the 18th hole to beat Jackson Buchanan 2 up on the final hole.
Kent’s final match against Jose Luis Ballester, a rising senior at Arizona State University, was challenging, with Ballester taking an early lead. The 19-year-old Kent stayed steady, carding pars on the first three holes. His birdie on the fourth hole put him back in contention, but Ballester responded with a birdie at the 8th hole and took a 4-up lead after the first 18 holes.
However, like he did all week, Kent never wavered and continued to fight hard during the second 18 holes. Kent, who never closed the gap closer than two down, won three of five holes during the second back nine stretch before carding a par to Ballester's bogey on the 34th hole to narrow the gap to one down. The two exchanged pars on the 35th hole before Ballester closed out the championship on the 36th hole.
With his performance, Kent will receive an exemption into the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club and will receive an invitation to the 2025 Masters Tournament.
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